Responding to an increasingly competitive education market, higher housing demands from students and a lack of residences near University of Toronto (U of T), Knightstone Capital Management created CampusOne, a new 890-bed student residence. Located across the street from U of T’s main campus and designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, this residence offers five star amenities, furnished suites, a cafeteria accessible to all students, and on-site security. For CampusOne, Entro developed the overarching brand, then applied it to the building by virtue of a large-scale environmental graphics and wayfinding program.

At 25 storeys, CampusOne is a prominent feature in the neighbourhood of College and Spadina, with engaging architectural features. Our focus for the brand was to highlight these features with orange, yellow and blue forms that mimic the protruding and receding surfaces of the building. The typeface ITC Johnston gives a nod to tradition that is deeply entrenched in U of T and its longstanding history while the choice of a san serif font suggests a clean, modern and youthful character that gives CampusOne its own identity.Using a predominant palette of blue for the environmental graphics gave us the opportunity to create subtle connections to the U of T colours and the new CampusOne brand while also creating an inviting and relaxing ambiance. The feature wall along the stairwell and entrance displays an intricate pattern of varying geometric forms and colour complexity that encourages the visitor to navigate their way upstairs and explore.High-demand workloads and cold Canadian temperatures during school months often keep students indoors. The inspiration for the interior design, and, to complement, our wayfinding program was to bring the outdoors in. With open areas and finishes of brick, wood and concrete, the space imbues the feelings of a dynamic exterior environment with plenty of opportunities for students to engage and collaborate with each other. The wayfinding complements these finishes without overpowering the space, taking a whimsical approach with floor identification that appears as though it’s emerging from the ceiling.

CampusOne is an exemplary response to the changing needs of this generation’s student body, and has been described by Globe and Mail as “a far cry from the 1960s-era buildings that have been the backbone of student housing on many Canadian campuses for decades”. The brand, environmental graphics and wayfinding program support this sensibility by giving new students a subtle welcome while tying the amenities floors and main floor together for an inclusive living space. Following the success of Parkside, CampusOne has become the cornerstone for further Knightstone developments.